Many a Tangled Web We Weave
by Just Alex
Summary: This story starts with Naruto getting dumped by Itachi, then seeking comfort from various sources, and eventually ending up with Gaara. At the end, though, this story will be NarutoxSasuke/GaaraxLee.
1. Chapter 1

Many a Tangled Web We Weave

Chapter One  
After He Left

_I never saw it coming._

A dark man with a darker smile, holding out a single perfect rose.

_Never._

He smiled, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes—still, it's so rare, how can someone _not_ smile back?

_I thought everything was perfect._

He was wonderful. Efforts to make him happy seemed successful at the time, but…

_Why would he leave?_

A strong, small Asian boy in a bright green jumpsuit, jogging past. The dark man's eyes follow.

_Did I do something wrong?_

His eyes were cold, ice cold, colder than the arctic when he broke it off.

_What happened?_

Was it all so meaningless?

_I thought we were so happy._

"Naruto!" Neji pounded on the bedroom door. He had been demanding to be let in for hours, and Naruto was beginning to think that he would never stop. "Naruto, I am not leaving until you open this door!!"

Sniffling, Naruto made himself get up from the bed, wrapping his blanket around him like a cocoon. He slowly made his way over to the peeling-white-painted door, opening it just as slowly.

He stood there for a moment, watching Neji's furious and worried face morph into one of relief and caring. His normally neat hair was frazzled and wet with sweat from the effort he had put forth against the door. Neji stepped forward, likely moved to wanting to hug him because of his sad and woeful red-lined eyes.

And then Naruto slammed the door in his face.

Naruto almost smiled at the long, pregnant pause that developed as Neji digested what Naruto had just done.

And then the yelling began anew.

"NARUTO!!" The bedraggled blonde ignored him, stumbling back over to his bed and flopping over onto it. "NARUTO!! I WILL BREAK THIS DAMN DOOR DOWN!! I MEAN IT!!"

Naruto stirred, pulling up a corner of the blanket to peek out at the door.

He wouldn't…

"YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS!!"

No way…

"ONE!!"

Seriously?

"TWO!!"

_Oh shit—_Naruto fell off his bed, tangled in his sheets.

"THREE!!"

And then the door imploded into Naruto's apartment, showering door-debris all over his meager belongings.

Grumbling, Naruto stumbled over to where the splintered remains of his once-useful door lay, his warm comforter wrapped around his shoulders. He glared at Neji, who was breathing heavy, his cheeks flushed in anger.

"You're paying for that door."

Neji snorted. "You say that as if I couldn't afford it."

Naruto glanced towards his bed and Neji frowned deeply. "Look, Naruto, you need to talk about this!"

"If I had wanted to talk about it, don't you think I would have let you in instead of slamming the door in your face?" Naruto dropped the blanket angrily, stalking towards the bathroom. Neji blushed slightly when he saw that he was only in his sky-blue boxers, but kept his embarrassment out of his voice as he chased after the tanned blonde.

"Naruto, you are not going to feel better until you talk to someone about this!"

Naruto spun on his heel, stopping right in front of the bathroom door. "Why do you care, huh?"

"Uh…" Neji had just barely managed to avoid crashing into the blonde, and now he stepped back as Naruto began to stalk forward. The low tilt to his voice did not bode well. "Because I am…your friend?"

"I have lots of friends…" Neji took another step back as the light in Naruto's eyes changed, became more…darkly mischievous. "…but you're the only one here."

"W-well…" He took another step back. "…that's because—"

"Do you want me to feel better, Neji? Is that why you're here?" Neji took another step back—his legs bumped against the arm of the couch.

"Yes, by talking—!"

"I don't want to talk, Neji." Naruto slung his arms around the Hyuuga's neck, leaning up close. "I can think of another way to make me feel better, though…" He nuzzled the brunette's neck lightly, grinning triumphantly at the shiver that ran through the taller boy. He just needed to push it a little more… Naruto pitched his voice to a seductive level and made his best kicked-puppy face. "Don't you want to make me feel better…Neji-San?"

Neji's response was a gargled sound with no relation to words, and Naruto grinned triumphantly, shoving the Hyuuga over the arm to fall lying lengthwise onto the cushions.

Grinning wider at the almost comically stunned look on Neji's face, Naruto slowly stalked around to the front of the couch before deliberately straddling the unmoving (and brightly flushed) boy.

"Well?" He tapped his nose lightly against Neji's. "Do you?"

"Damnit, Naruto!" Neji shoved the blonde boy off him and onto the floor, angry more at himself than at the other for falling for such an obvious technique. "Stop trying to distract me! That's foul play, too—you know about my thing for blondes!"

Naruto made a slightly annoyed sound as he got up from the floor and then cocked a brow at the angrily flushed brunette. "I thought you were gonna let me get away with it for a second, Neji. When did you become such an uke?"

If possible, Neji flushed and even deeper red and forced himself to ignore the bait.

_It's just another distraction technique._

"Look, Naruto, you need to talk to someone. If not me, then someone else that won't judge you."

"I'm not afraid of people judging me! You all did that when I first decided to go out with the guy! I just don't want your useless opinions!"

"So you just want to…vent?" Neji sounded contemplative.

"YES!" Naruto had had enough of this. His best friend was about five seconds from being propelled over the wreckage that was once his front door, across the street, and through his neighbor's still-intact door.

"Then why don't you talk to Shino!"

Naruto paused, his anger fading. "Shino?"

"Yes, Shino. He will listen while you talk, and there's a 90 percent chance he won't even respond when you are done venting!"

"Hm…I may just do that. Now please, Neji—get out of my apartment."

* * *

_To be honest, I don't really remember what it was like when he was here. I don't remember what we did, or where we went, or if we even had pet names for each other. It's a little odd, but I do remember that I was happy with him, and that when he left it was similar to having my own heart torn from my body. I remember his long, pitch hair and his deep eyes that, when the light hit them just right, almost seemed to glow red. His voice was deep and gravely, as if he smoked often, but I never once saw him with a cigarette. He was almost brutally indifferent to the people around him, but not in a cold way—he was more like a dormant volcano, indifferent until it suddenly erupts, charring all surroundings in its wake with eager and sudden gusto._

_Itachi._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
Venting

Everything was still and quiet. The soft green grass and lush leaves rustled quietly in the breeze. A solemn boy sat in the shade of a large oak tree, his dark brown hair blending in with the rough bark. His ozzy-osborn sunglasses shone and reflected the frail monarch that fluttered gently on his fingertip.

"Hey Shino." Naruto plopped down onto the grass beside the tranquil boy, scaring the butterfly away. He watched it fly off, slightly disappointed. "Aw…"

Shino only scowled.

"So, Shino, you don't mind if I vent, do you?"

Stony silence.

"Great! So you know that guy I've been dating? Tall? Quiet? Jet-black hair? Yeah, well, he dumped me and ran off with Lee."

Shino's left brow rose in what Naruto could only assume was surprise.

"I know, right? Of all the people, why Lee? But he did, and he left me in front of a lot of my friends, too."

Shino's eyebrows and mouth twitched in what hinted at sympathy.

"So, I excused myself and ran home to cry. It was like my heart had been ripped from my chest—the pain was unbearable. I think I stayed there for days, because Neji was really worried when he finally came knocking on my door, and I was really hungry after he left. I wouldn't let him in my apartment, so, as should be expected from a member of the Hyuuga family, he broke the door down and let himself in. Shattered it, really. You can guess what I did then."

Shino smirked lightly. Yeah, he could guess. Naruto's hormones were notoriously overactive, and what better way to distract Neji—who had a well-known softness for blonde hair on _either_ sex—than to offer up one?

"But he resisted—he must have been practicing self-discipline lately or something. Anyways, he suggested that I talk to you about it. So here I am."

Shino frowned. "What…do you want advice?"

"Only if you have any."

"Find someone that's more like you."

"For a boyfriend?"

Shino nodded sagely.

"That's great! Thank you so much!" Naruto gave Shino a quick peck on the cheek and then ran off to find his most-similar friend.

Satisfied that the noise-maker would be gone for another long while, Shino sat back and held out his hand, waiting for the butterfly to land again.

* * *

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG—

"WHAT?!" Kankuro yelled as he whipped the door open. He glared venomously at his younger brother's only friend. "Naruto!! Three knocks on the door is enough!"

"But you were taking too long." Naruto play-pouted and Kankuro drug his hand through his hair, mussing the brown mess more than it already was.

"Look, Gaara is in his room, alright? Knock first!" And with that said, the elder brother turned around, completely disgusted with people in general.

"Thanks Kankuro!" Naruto sprinted past the exasperated man and up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Gaara lived up in the family's attic—the third floor—and he rarely left it unless it was absolutely necessary. The door that led up to Gaara's loft, of sorts, was littered with carved notches and notes that only Gaara understood. Completely disregarding the implied sanctuary of a closed door, Naruto walked right in.

And was rewarded with the sight of a half-dressed Gaara. He was standing in front of his dresser in only a pair of white boxers (amusingly patterned with red hearts) and a red wife-beater was half-raised to his head. His sleep-rimmed aqua eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights when he heard the door slam open, and a deep flush quickly spread across the pale peach skin when he saw Naruto standing there, the color almost rivaling his hair for vividness.

"Naruto!" He hissed in embarrassment, breaking out of his shocked state and tugging the shirt over his head, pulling the edge down as far as it would go. "Don't you know how to _knock_?! I just got up from a nap—I'm not decent!"

"Oh, deal with it you big baby, it's not like you have anything I don't." Naruto turned his head, casually shutting the door behind him, and prayed that Gaara could not discern the light blush that now stole across his cheeks for anything more than a healthy flush. _Perhaps I should have knocked…_

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto watched Gaara furiously tug on a pair of khaki jeans and run his fingers quickly through his hair, ruffling it fashionably.

"What did you want, Naruto?"

"Uhm…" The blonde blinked. "Hold on, I know this one…"

Gaara sighed with resignation and sat on his bed. Naruto was dancing around the subject, and the fact that it was a hard subject for Naruto to bring up told him that whatever it was was something embarrassing.

To Naruto, that is.

Which was a novelty in itself.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers. "So you know about my boyfriend, right?"

"The tall, dark, emotionless one?"

"Yes, him—Itachi."

"I don't like him." Gaara's voice was flat and matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, well…" Naruto hesitated a moment. "He dumped me."

"I'll kill him." And that was the expected reaction, still delivered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No, no—there's no need, Gaara. There _is_ something you can do to make me feel better, though."

Gaara waited. And when there was no response, he prompted, "…And that is?"

"Erm…" Naruto looked down at the floor, up at the ceiling, to the right at the wall. "Well…" His feet nudged around nervously and he bit his bottom lip. "…Would _you_ be my boyfriend?"

There was then a long, awkward silence while Gaara tried—and failed—to digest the question.

"Excuse me?"

"I-I mean," Naruto stumbled over his words in a rush to explain himself. "I know you're single, and I'm single, too, now, and we get along really well, so I just thought—"

"Naruto." The blonde bit off the rest of his rambling sentence and looked up at Gaara's face tentatively. "How are you so sure we're even good for each other?"

"Well…I suppose I don't." Naruto admitted sheepishly, looking again down at the floor.

There was another length of silence, this one more amicable, while the two best friends contemplated their situation.

"I'd be open to being friends with benefits if you want, Naruto."

Naruto blinked, completely shocked that _Gaara_ had suggested such a thing.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?" Gaara sounded nonchalant, but the light flush to his cheeks gave him away.

"Did you really just say that?" A slow grin began to slide across Naruto's face.

"If you don't like the idea, then I'll take it back—" Gaara flustered, embarrassed.

"No—I mean…Well…It's a fine idea Gaara." Naruto's grin turned bashful, and the aura of chagrin dissipated from Gaara's form.

"Good. That's what I thought. Now, lets go out for ice cream."

Naruto grinned. Who was he to deny Gaara's demanding sweet tooth? "Alright, let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
Test Run

"I feel like orange sherbet. What do you think, Gaara?"

"I think you _always_ feel like orange sherbet."

Naruto rolled his eyes and placed his hands at his hips. "You know what I meant."

Gaara gave the barest whisper of a smile. "Yes, I did. I suppose I'd like Rocky Road."

"Cup or cone?"

"Cone."

"Alright," Naruto turned to the vender, a portly, aging man in a brightly colored smock. "One orange sherbet and one Rocky Road cone, please."

The man nodded and handed them their ice cream. "That'll be $3.50, please."

Naruto reached into his pants pocket to grab his wallet, but Gaara was already handing the man a five.

"Keep the change," He told the man as he turned to walk out the glass door.

Shrugging, Naruto followed, licking his sherbet.

"Let's go to the park."

Naruto rose a brow. "O-kay…"_Gaara must have something in mind if he actually had a suggestion…_

Gaara had always been the type to just go with the flow, not really the kind of person to make waves.

They walked down the cracked sidewalk together, shaded by leafy overhangs and surrounded by neatly trimmed grass. Ahead of them, there was a playground where Ino and Sakura sat together on the swing set and fields where some boys from their class were making teams for a game of ball. Every six yards or so there was a cluster of trees.

"Lets go over there." Gaara gestured with his half-melted cone to an overhung willow tree with vine-like branches almost brushing the grass.

"Alright." Naruto crunched down on his cone and followed Gaara inside the curtain of leaves, sitting down beside him against the trunk.

They finished the rest of their cones in companionable silence.

The curtain of leaves created a feeling of safety and privacy, shading them in a rich green tint and muffling the sounds outside.

"Naruto," Gaara spoke up suddenly, "I think we should do a test-run."

Naruto blinked. "A what?"

"A test-run—you know, to see if the friends-with-benefits thing'll work."

"Oh…uh…" Naruto blushed. "Okay…How do we start?"

Gaara's ears turned red. "Well…how about we start with kissing and work our way up from there?"

Naruto bit his lip and glanced sideways at his friend. "You go first."

Gaara swallowed. "Okay." He sort of half-crawled into Naruto's lap, straddling his thighs, and leaned forward. His eyes flickered from Naruto's mouth to his eyes, as though he was unsure how he would be received.

A sudden rush of nerves hit Naruto, and he shut his eyes, feeling his cheeks heat up.

It almost made it worse.

In the red-tinted darkness behind his eyelids he could feel Gaara's chocolate scented breath against his face and hear the beating of his own heart within his chest.

Soft hands touched his cheeks and then softer lips brushed his own.

For a quiet moment, they kissed to the soft sounds of willow leaves and breathy wind.

And then Gaara's hands slid down to clasp Naruto's neck and Naruto's hands moved up to clutch at Gaara's hips.

Lips parted and Naruto's remaining thoughts were devastated by the chocolate tinted taste of Gaara, who soon took control of the kiss. He explored every crevice of the cave of Naruto's mouth, inviting and coaxing Naruto to do the same. Naruto soon did, melting at Gaara's unexpected skill.

Gaara's cool hands were suddenly beneath Naruto's shirt and his resulting gasp was muffled against Gaara's mouth.

Naruto had no idea just how far Gaara was planning on going, but they were swiftly passing the limits he had expected. Gaara was really pulling the surprises out of the bag; first he had suggested the friends-with-benefits thing, and now this!

Gaara jerked Naruto's soft orange T-shirt as high as it would go and began placing biting kisses up and down the front of his torso.

"Gaara," Naruto breathed, his hands moving to tangle in the fiery locks. "Just how far are we…"

Pale fingers fumbled to undo Naruto's blue jeans and deep sea-green eyes gazed into cerulean. "I would say all the way, but we could actually go much farther."

Finally succeeding in undoing the pants, Gaara quickly tugged off Naruto's blue sneakers so that he could remove the jeans—and with them, the boxers.

Naruto blushed deeper when Gaara gave him an absolutely filthy smirk. "I see you're ready to go."

Naruto bit his lip and refrained from commenting as Gaara undid his pants and shoved them and his heart-printed boxers down past his hips. Without bothering to take them off, Gaara dug into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small tube.

"I see you're ready to go, too," Naruto commented quietly, looking from Gaara's exposed member to the lube in his hand, as Gaara ripped off his shirt.

"Always good to be prepared." Gaara spread some lube over his cock and placed the tube to the side. He lifted Naruto's legs to be slung over his elbows and guided his tip to Naruto's entrance. "Are you ready?"

Naruto placed his hands firmly on Gaara's shoulders and nodded.

Naruto forced himself to breathe as he was slowly impaled, trying to get used to the feeling as quickly as possible. He felt himself stretching and as Gaara fully sheathed himself, he felt his member press against Gaara's abdomen.

"So…tight…" Gaara bit his lip, his hands clenching on Naruto's hips and his breathing deep and heavy.

After a moment of stillness, Naruto whimpered. "Move, Gaara…"

Gaara closed his eyes and nodded, pulling out slowly and thrusting back in.

Naruto cried out, his nails digging into Gaara's pale skin as the awaited shock of pleasure hit him. "Again…"

Gaara moaned and began moving in earnest, following huffed directions of _harder_, _faster_, and _again, Gaara, again_, hitting the same spot each time and making Naruto shiver with the intensity. The blonde moved his hips up to meet Gaara's thrusts, creating an erotic rhythm with the other boy.

Everything was so intense that before long Gaara felt a familiar coiling in his stomach, and he bit his lip. Their thrusts were becoming more disjointed, and soon, the pale boy couldn't take any more. He wrapped his hand around Naruto's thick length and stroked firmly, tearing the other boys orgasm from him. He felt the hot come splash against his stomach and heard his name choked out into his ear and came, burying himself deeply inside the tanned boy.

After a few moments of tired panting, Gaara pulled away and rolled off of Naruto, scooting up to lean against the tree trunk. As he buttoned up his pants and straightened out his shirt, Naruto joined him, pulling his jeans back on. They wiped the come from their stomach with a frond of the willow tree, the leaves lightly tickling their skin. When they both sat fully dressed and generally less ruffled, Naruto broke the silence.

"I can't believe," Naruto breathed, "That we just had sex in a public park."

Gaara only smiled.


End file.
